Mark Iverson <zeropo...@charter.net> wrote:
> I think all those involved in any way with this demo are keenly aware of > the consequences... it would be career suicide and ridicule if they failed. > After what happened to F&P, I highly doubt any of them would take that kind > of chance with their own careers. > They have done this experiment many times and they are sure of their results. The people who designed the calorimetry and particle detection are distinguished experts in those fields, as I said. You do not have to speak Italian to see that the press conference was conducted like any other physics seminar. No one is keyed up or worried about their careers. You can also see that these are senior professors who have been around for decades and they are not worried about their reputations. To be brutal, their careers are almost done anyway. One of them has already served as president of the Italian Chemical Society, just as Fleischmann had already been the president of the Electrochemistry Society and was already a FRS in 1989. Such people do not fret about being attacked in Wikipedia. On the other hand, Fleischmann and his wife both told me that the mass media attacks do upset him a great deal. They irk him. It isn't as if he feels chastened or humbled. One thing I will say about scientists, which has been driven home to me again in the last few days . . . They are not like engineers, or computer programmers, or even product support technicians. When you ask an engineer "what did you do?" she will tell you from start to finish what instruments and materials she used, what the procedures were, and what the results were. Bing, bang, bong -- a logical discourse that follows events in chronological order. The only cold fusion researchers I know who do that are Pam Boss, Melvin Miles, Mike McKubre and Ed Storms. The others tend talk round and round the mulberry bush. It is frustrating! - Jed
